The Ex-Im Bank has had a rocky month, with new House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) signaling that he wants the agency to wind down its operations and House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas) blasting out emails that he calls “Egregious Ex-Im Bank Deal of the Day.” Read More »

House Republican leaders have seen their plans complicated by Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) before. And on Thursday, when the leaders had to suddenly pull their border bill from the floor, much attention was again directed at the lobbying efforts of the influential tea-party conservative, who likes to hold strategy sessions with House members over pizza and soda.

But in the case of the border bill, it turns out that another Senate Republican–Jeff Sessions of Alabama–also played an influential role in the GOP’s vote on the immigration legislation Thursday.

Several House lawmakers said Mr. Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, met Wednesday morning with a group of southern lawmakers to express his opposition to the border bill the House would take up, and on Thursday issued a strong statement outlining his opposition. Read More »

More than 50 Republican lawmakers sent a letter Friday to House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R., Mich.) saying they are “deeply concerned” about a proposed tax on banks they worry would undermine lending and curb economic growth.

The letter from Rep. Patrick McHenry (R., N.C.), a member of the House Financial Services Committee and co-signed by 53 House Republicans is the latest GOP pushback on Mr. Camp’s Feb. 26 proposal to overhaul the tax code. Included in the proposal is a quarterly tax on financial firms with assets greater than $500 billion. Read More »

How long does it take the Securities and Exchange Commission to develop a package of investor safeguards? About 3,538 hours.

That’s how long staff of two agency divisions worked to develop safeguards designed to make it easier for the agency to track and police wrongdoing in a roughly $900 billion annual market for private placements, according to SEC Chairman Mary Jo White.

In terms of labor costs, that translates to about $315,574, Ms. White wrote Thursday in a letter to Rep. Patrick McHenry (R., N.C.). Read More »

Reps. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, and Patrick McHenry (R., N.C.), who chairs a key subcommittee, wrote in a letter Friday to “express our deep concern” about recent comments from the administration about prosecuting large financial firms. The letter, addressed to Mr. Holder and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, asks the administration to turn over all documents tied to officials assessing the potential economic impact of bringing criminal or civil proceedings against a bank. Read More »

On Tuesday, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R., N.C.) got in a heated dust-up with Harvard law professor and White House adviser Elizabeth Warren over whether she could leave the witness table or not, capping a contentious hearing examining the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Now, Rep. Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier of California thinks Mr. McHenry, chairman of the House Oversight subcommittee that held the hearing, should apologize to Ms. Warren.

Ms. Speier, a member of the subcommittee, made her request in a speech on the House floor Wednesday, describing the incident as “a scene that if it had happened in a junior high student council meeting would have been stopped by the faculty adviser. Unfortunately though our subcommittee is without any kind of adult supervision.”

Quite a few of Ms. Warren’s supporters share Ms. Speier’s belief that Mr. McHenry should apologize. Dozens and dozens of people have posted comments on Mr. McHenry’s Facebook page criticizing his treatment of Ms. Warren.

Mr. McHenry’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment… Read More »

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.